New drugs against the coronavirus: two drugs against osteoarthritis have been tested with success

The World Health Organization recommended the use of two arthritis medications to prevent COVID-19[female[feminine after several successful trials in patients who have used these drugs. The entity suggested that the Actemra by Roche and Kevzara from Sanofi, two corticosteroids for arthritis reduced the risk of coronavirus death.

A WHO group evaluating therapies concluded that treating severe and critical COVID-19 patients with so-called interleukin-6 antagonists that block inflammation “reduces the risk of death and the need mechanical ventilation ”.

According to the WHO analysis, the risk of death within 28 days for patients receiving any of the corticosteroid arthritis medications such as dexamethasone is 21%, compared to a presumed risk of 25% in those receiving standard care. For 100 of these patients, four more will survive, according to the WHO.

In addition, the risk of needing mechanical ventilation or of dying was 26% for those who received the drugs and corticosteroids, compared to 33% for those who received standard care. The WHO has said that means for every 100 of those patients, another seven will survive without mechanical ventilation..

“We have updated our clinical care treatment guide to reflect this latest development,” said Janet Diaz, WHO health emergencies manager.

Trials with new drugs against COVID-19

The analysis included 10,930 patients, of which 6,449 received one of the drugs and 4,481 received standard care or placebo. This was done with the college king London, the University of Bristol, the University College London Yes Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The United States Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use approval for Actemra for COVID-19 last week. This is after its unapproved use in the pandemic increased sales by around a third to around $ 3 billion in 2020.

Sales of Kevzara increased by 30% last year, reported Sanofi according to a report by Reuters.

Try anyway Actemra Yes Kevzara for COVID-19 patients involved trial and error, as several failures emerged when companies tested the drugs on different groups of patients.

WHO has also called for more to be done to improve access to these drugs in low-income countries currently facing an increase in COVID-19 cases and variants of the virus, as well as insufficient vaccine supplies.

“These are the people these drugs need to reach,” Diaz said.